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Sleeper
The Sleeper is Croyd Crenson, a man that transforms every time he sleeps, each time waking up with a new appearance and new powers. Sometimes he is a powerful ace, sometimes a pathetic joker. Croyd sells his services as an ace for hire; he is a well-known figure in the streets of New York City. He is a fixture in both the ace and joker communities. While he is not a bad sort at heart, the Sleeper is addicted to amphetamines, prone to violent superpowered episodes when he is far gone into drug psychosis. Croyd became a wild card in 1946, and has been around since the beginning of the wild card age. History In 1946, Croyd was a completely average 14-year old boy, just starting ninth-grade at school. In September 15, when the wild card virus was released over the skies of New York City, Croyd was coming back from school. He was infected and fell into a deep coma-like sleep. When he woke up weeks later, he was taller and stronger, looking like an adult. But that wasn't all, he also had fine red hair covering his whole body and the ability to turn invisible. That would become a routine for Croyd: sleep for weeks, sometimes months, and waking up always with a different body, with a new appearance and new powers. Sometimes he wakes up as an ace, sometimes as a joker. Croyd's father died from the wild card virus, and it was up to him to feed his family in those troubled times. Due to his transformations and unusual sleep-cycle, Croyd was unable to return to school or lead any sort of normal life. Instead, he started to use his powers for crime, stealing to help pay the bills and support his mother and siblings. In the first years of his criminal enterprises, he was tutored by Bentley, a minor criminal with a skill for planning capers. Fearing the unpredictability of his transformations, Croyd soon developed a terrible phobia of sleeping. He started to use amphetamines to stay awake for longer, and soon was addicted to the pills. In short time, Croyd's mother had a mental breakdown, his sister married, and his brother opened a business of his own. Feeling more and more alienated from his family, Croyd drifted away. Croyd eventually abandoned his career as a thief and became an ace for hire, selling his services to whoever can afford them. In the following decades, he has been a constant presence in both the ace and joker communities. His appearance always changing, the Sleeper has become something of an urban legend in New York City. Even though he is pretty well-known, Croyd isn't really a celebrity ace, keeping to the streets. The most infamous of all his transformations took place in 1988, when Croyd became a superstrong albino with the fearsome ability to infect others with a mutant strain of the wild card. This incarnation of the Sleeper was nicknamed "Typhoid Croyd" and spread terror in New York City, before being stopped by the crimefighters Modular Man and Black Shadow. Powers Croyd is one of the most unusual wild carders. He sleeps for weeks, sometimes months, lapsing into a sort of hybernation. While he sleeps, his body slowly transforms, and he wakes up with a new appearance and new powers. Sometimes he wakes up as a powerful ace, sometimes as a hideous joker. When he is an ace, Croyd usually has superhuman strength, endurance, and speed, and also one other power that is different every time. Croyd has manifested many different abilities with the years: invisibility, flight, mind control, precognition, ice generation, and sonic projection are just some of them. When he wakes up, Croyd usually isn't sure of what his powers are this time around, and must perform several little experiments to discover them. Croyd's appearance also changes completely while he sleeps, and he never looks the same twice. Apparently even his fingerprints change, so there is no way to identify the Sleeper physically. While sometimes his appearance is totally human, Croyd's transformations frequently include some joker traits even when he has superhuman powers. Examples include multifaceted eyes, albino skin, scar-tissue plates, and fine colorful hair all over his body. Occasionaly, Croyd wakes up in a hideous joker body with absolutely no powers. About 2/3 of his incarnations are aces or joker-aces, and 1/3 are pure jokers. One intriguing fact is that Croyd's most recent power and appearance seem to depend on the emotional state and subconscious desires he had when he last went to sleep. For instance, if he goes to sleep feeling cold, next time he can wake up with heat powers to compensate. If he goes to sleep feeling trapped, he can develop flying abilities next. If he goes to sleep in a very rotten mood, he can wake up as a pure joker next. Croyd's hybernation has several other interesting properties. While he sleeps, Croyd's body regenerates, so that he heals from any wounds, even regrowing amputated body parts. A side-effect of this regeneration is that Croyd doesn't age. He remains as vigorous now as he was in 1946. And while his sleep periods can last months, he also can stay awake for a much longer time than an ordinary human. At least one week, sometimes much longer. He often tries to extend his awake periods even more by drinking lots of coffee and taking amphetamines. Croyd can't be affected by alcohol, since his metabolism while he is awake is much quicker than a normal human's. His appetite is also superhuman, and Croyd must consume enormous quantities of food, particularly right after waking up. One last uncommon trait of the Sleeper is that his mind is able to absorb information and knowledge while he sleeps. Croyd usually sleeps with a radio turned on, so that he wakes up with a subconscious knowledge of news and events that have transpired while he slept. As possibly related side-effect, Croyd's mind is very vulnerable to hypnotic suggestion. Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper Sleeper